The Mbengwi Centre is one of Meal a Day’s longest running projects. It was started by the CBM (Christadelphian Bible Mission) in the late 1980’s, with Meal-a-Day support. Since 2009 Meal a Day has provided 100% of the funding.

The centre is one dedicated to the disabled, and is a beacon of hope to children who have disabilities, caring for them through life-changing operations and rehabilitation.
An interview with Peter about his experiences at the Mbengwi Centre for the Blind and Disabled.
Peter, what was life like for you before you came to the Centre?
Life was difficult. I was born with my feet turned upside down and backwards. I could move around but not the same as other people. I couldn’t stand among other people. They didn’t look at me as somebody. They looked at me as being less worthy. In the family home I was treated differently to the others. I would be sent out of the house and sit alone in the yard. I didn’t go to school. My parents used what little money they had on schooling for my brothers and sisters. I often asked to go too, but there was no money. I was told that God doesn’t create people like me unless they were to be bad. I grew up believing that God knew I was a bad child. I know very differently now. My mother sent me to live with my Grandmother. It was she who heard of the Centre and took me to Mbengwi when I was 15 years old.
What were the best bits of being at the Centre?
Coming to Mbengwi changed my life. I can now walk properly. I can now be looked upon the same as everybody else. I no longer have a deformity. I am no longer a nobody. I was looked after well. I was fed good food and I had a bed all to myself. I became a somebody.
What is life like for you since you left the Centre?
When I returned to my village, people were happy to see me and they appreciated what had been done for me. I can now stand among other people. I can trek from the village to places I need to get to. I could not do that before. I am now seen to be somebody by my uncle and he gave me a room to sleep and food. We talk together and I have worked with him and learnt skills like plumbing, wiring, building and plastering. I can work hard now I’m fully fit. I have a small job. I have a future.
What would you be doing if you had not come to the Centre?
I would be in the village helping to produce palm oil from my father’s palm trees. There might have been some small money but it would have been very hard. My father and my grandmother have died now, and my family have since sold the land with the palm trees.
What are your plans for the future?
I will need to work hard, it may still even be difficult, but I can see a way for me now. I hope to be married